
Both pre-and-post operatively, the prime minister has conducted business essentially by remote control, using communication tools such as Skype conferencing to deal with affairs of state. In the short term, this is a reasonable stop-gap measure, but it cannot become normative and at some point he is going to have to come home and pick up the reins. Or maybe not. The political atmospherics are decidedly febrile, courtesy of the still-not-gone-away Panama Papers. The opposition parties, egged on by the PTI, are cobbling together all manner of improbable scenarios — the most improbable being the attempt to rope in the currently defunct election commission. Improbable they may be in terms of unseating the PML-N government which has a parliamentary majority, they do constitute sustained pressure on the prime minister both personally and politically. After Eid an already charged atmosphere is likely to become more so, and the prime minister’s return to what has become a snake-pit may not be judged by his doctors or advisers to be in his best interests. We wish him a speedy recovery and return, though the likelihood of seeing both together is a little uncertain right now.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 29th, 2016.
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